The present invention concerns receiving dishes, particularly paraboloid dishes used to receive sound and radio signals, such as microphones and RF antennae.
Receiving dishes are generally single piece paraboloid shaped dishes. They are generally shallow in depth to allow for easier manufacture and shipping. However, shallow dishes are susceptible to stray signals from sources positioned to the sides of the receiving dish. Alternatively, deeper one piece dishes reduce the stray signal problem but the cost to manufacture, package, and ship a one piece deep parabolic dish is unwieldy and expensive.
Present dishes also include folding umbrella type receiving dishes. These are generally used in low-gravity space applications. These dishes consist of a skeleton with a flexible cloth-like covering. These dishes are functional only when fully open, requiring set up before the dish is operational.
There are at least two problems with these receiving dishes. First, a deep dish with good selectivity with low stray signal interference has a high cost of manufacture and shipping. Second, umbrella-type folding dishes only operate when in the fully open position. Third, these present dishes are not adjustable in diameter or depth, nor is the gain of the receiver adjustable by adjusting the diameter and depth of the receiver. Thus, there is a need for a collapsible parabolic dish that is deeper in depth that allows easier manufacture and shipping. There is also a need for a collapsible parabolic dish that is operable in both the open and closed position and has an adjustable diameter and depth and an adjustable gain.